The Investigators, Inc. The Case of Ivy’s Missing Life. Chapter 7. Talking and Fighting.

We were enjoying our meeting with the town criminals, although I don’t think they would agree with that. Vincent Pryor, their boss, or at least one of them, had come from The City Club to check on the finances in this town. Apparently the leaders here have been taking too large of a paycheck and not telling The City Club about it. Kind of strange really, one would think they would realize that eventually they would be caught, but I guess the temptation was just too much for them. I am still waiting to hear back from Hannah about the identity of Mrs. Winslow.

She is the only person we know nothing about and she seems to be the leader of these town leaders. Vincent had left to make a phone call at another table, but he now returned. “Would it be too much to ask you to leave our meeting now?” asked Scott, owner of the Shining Moon nightclub, “You have interrupted us long enough.” “I haven’t had any satisfactory answers yet,” I told him, “and I am still waiting for the return of my cats. It has now been 22 minutes and I don’t like being kept waiting.”

“Go back to your hotel and we’ll send the men over to you,” he said. “I would prefer having Steve stay in our meeting,” said Vincent, “he has been quite helpful so far.” “Thank you Mr. Pryor,” I said. “Please call me Vincent,” he said in return, “now, about this matter of dipping into The City Club funds, the City Council was not happy to hear about this. They are sending some Knights to help us sort out this little matter.” That certainly seemed to make the others a little nervous and I was beginning to sense trouble, but not here, it concerned Ivy.

“Kristina,” I said. “Yes Steve?” she replied. “Any trouble over there?” I asked. “Not yet,” she said, “are we expecting anything?” “Yes, I think there might be some visitors coming your way,” I said, “so please be watchful, don’t let Ivy out of your sight for a second.” “I won’t Steve, don’t worry,” she said. “Thanks Kristina,” I answered. “An interesting communication gadget,” said Vincent, “how does it work?” “All I need do is say one of my people’s names and it connects automatically to their communicator,” I said, “anywhere in the world, and nice and clear too.”

“I can see that,” he said, “where do you get them?” “One of the women on my team is a good inventor,” I said, “she came up with the idea and we have a company make them for us.” “We would be interested in purchasing some of them,” said Vincent, “how much do they cost?” “I would have to work that out,” I said. He then gave me his card and said to let him know and I told him I would do that. Finally the two men came in with our cats in a cage which they set down on the table next to us. Angel checked them and said they were fine.

Also right then Jennifer communicated with me about Mrs. Winslow. I smiled when she gave me the information. Then Scott told me to leave or his man Riley would throw me out. I told Scott that Riley couldn’t possibly do that because I wouldn’t let him. Scott laughed. So I got up and went over to Riley and he punched me, hard, knocking me to the floor. Scott laughed again. “You’re embarrassing me twin brother,” said Sky shaking her head. Glad she was so concerned about me.

I got up and went over to this big guy, then flew into action, kicking him, then flipping him over my shoulder. As he was getting up I punched him once and he was knocked out. Of course, a little electricity helped with that punch. I went and sat down again. “Ivy won’t be happy with that black eye,” said Sky, looking at me. “Steve,” said Dawn, “that motorcycle gang is out here, more than before.” “Now we’ll see who wins the fight,” said Chief Winters. He leaned back in his chair, smiling once again.

“Kat, your Wildcats are needed here,” I said. “I know Steve,” she said, “Kitty already told me and we’re not far away.” “Thank you Kat,” I said. Hmm, things are heating up rather quickly. Then Kristina communicated with me that several men had broken into our hotel room and she was fighting them while Ivy hid in the bathroom. Unfortunately the bathroom door doesn’t lock and there are more men than Kristina can handle at once, so I whispered to Sky and she disappeared immediately. “Hey, where did that woman go?” asked the mayor with a shocked look on his face.

Then Angel sat beside me. Her and Sky had their twin outfits on tonight which helped. “I’m right here mayor,” said Angel. “But, but I saw you disappear into thin air!” he exclaimed. “Oh, sounds exciting,” she said. “You drink too much mayor,” I said. “I agree with that statement,” said Mrs. Winslow. “By the way, Mrs. Winslow,” I said, “or should I call you Veronica Tinsley? You were married to a George Winslow for several years and you are a cousin to a man known as Toledo, who has been dead for a couple of years now.

You also have a bank account at a bank in London, but a different bank than your partners, which makes you a bit smarter than the rest. You also have more money than the others since you get paid the most, giving you just over $1,000,000. It’s a good thing The City Club brings in so much money each year, it took them a while to discover this little oversight with you people.” Then that large man looking for the girl he paid for interrupted us again, demanding another girl for the $500 he had paid.

Scott sent another man to get a woman named TJ and he came out soon with another young woman, but this one had a black eye. “She doesn’t seem to like working for you either, Scott,” I said. “She’s got a black eye,” complained the large man. “Shut him up,” I said to Angel, “but don’t kill him.” She got up and hit the man on the back, then kicked his stomach, then one kick to his head and he was out cold. She then sat down again without saying a word. “Since you owe me some money Scott,” I said, “I will just take TJ off your hands.”

“Why don’t you just take all of my girls,” he said sarcastically. “Not a bad idea,” I said, “since I plan on closing you down anyway.” “Let’s make a deal,” said Vincent, “you take all the girls that wish to leave and I will take over the Shining Moon, since I have a rather large investment in this place.” “Okay,” I said, “that’s fine with me.” Meanwhile, back at the hotel. Sky arrived and helped Kristina and together they killed 8 men, while 4 others managed to get away.

Sky moved Ivy and Kristina to another room since our door was now broken, then she returned to us. Outside the Shining Moon there was a rather large fight happening between about 40 of those street gang members and the Wildcats, plus Dawn’s team and Misty’s team. The Bad Girls were inside with us. That street gang doesn’t have a chance against those girls.

Meanwhile, on a residential street, a house was on fire, completely engulfed in flames. Firefighters were standing by their trucks on the street, drinking coffee and telling jokes. We were to discover later that is where Chelsea lived with her parents and 2 brothers. They perished in the fire…

To Be Continued. ©2025 Steve McLeod.